The instant invention pertains to fishing rod holders, and particularly to the kind typified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,998 to Dumler. The Dumler rod holder has a cylindrical receptacle 30 pivotally mounted at 36 and a C-clamp 21 whose top and bottom faces, 22 and 23, enable a fisherman to strike a biting fish by yanking rod 33 and receptacle 30 backwards about pin 36. Rod 33 is locked into cylinder 30 by camming arm 50 and cam follower 39. Although convenient, the Dumler device is complicated mechanically, having several moving parts. Thus the Dumler device is given to breakdown, and is relatively expensive to manufacture.